The screens and the voice in Tenner’s head faded, but the blood in the sewage and the corpse beside him didn’t. Something beat against the insides of his mouth. Expecting another round of vomit, he opened it. Instead, it was a scream. A scream that unleashed a crescendo of feelings until his voice cracked and stopped it. Then, he vomited and gained his senses back.

I’d never guess there was this much madness a few meters under my feet. Tenner started pacing around the carnage. There’s a device that gives me a game system by showing glowing screens with my skills and some sort of perks then uses my inner voice to read it all…

This had to be a bad dream… No, it couldn’t be -- it was all too real. Maybe the water hadn’t broken his fall and this was the afterlife...? No, if he died, he’d be in heaven’s VIP lounge, talking with all the stars.

Tenner groped his face and no matter how weird it all was, accepted reality. Perhaps the neighborhood is odd. Perhaps everyone in the outside world wears one of these, he guessed. Or this prison was a madhouse all along and I was born here accidentally. Mortals do make mistakes.

Deeper in the darkness, red light flashed and something white glowed.

Talking about the outside -- this sewer could lead me there. Tenner grinned. Sixteen years of exploring down the drain: all he’d needed was just a little bad luck. Weight fell on Tenner's shoulders. His grin vanished. He couldn’t leave Jesse alone with a rotting corpse in this dark sewer and no way could he let his parents starve. In fact, countless people depended on him to win their lost possessions back and his first=ever date was in a few days.

As repayment for wrongful imprisonment since the day I was born and the torment of boredom that comes along with it, I’m pardoned from caring about my responsibilities. And, well, if someone were to leave this prison, wouldn’t it be the person others depend on and trust? Tenner turned to the hobo’s corpse. “Don’t you agree? I’m obviously the chosen one.”

School’s useless, a normal job isn't for me… I could bring someone along, but they’ll do nothing, but drag me down. This journey could be dangerous, but I’m more than ready: I switched my cards without anyone noticing, I jumped into a dark sewer and I killed a hobo with one swing. But...

The guilt was the only thing stopping him. The familiar faces in the patterns of muck on the sewer’s walls, born from the hobo’s plank’s weak flame, seemed to judge him. Tenner shoved the feeling into the back of his head. He pointed at the wall.

“I’ve known you all for all my life. You’re gonna be like the hobo: accidentally hurt by me for a greater cause,” Tenner said. At his own words, he nodded. “It’s survival of the fittest, what can I do…”

Like looking at the dead hobo, the first step was the hardest.

Far behind, Jesse started crying, terrified to his bones. He probably thought Tenner was fighting for his life against a crocodile. The weeps became fainter as Tenner’s footfalls echoed off the grimy walls.

Doo-roo-too, you’re on your own with a corpse and a ton of money. Doo-roo-too, don't dare walk another step, down here it's all bloody… Someday, I’ll write one hell of a song about right now. Tenner laughed at the thought. Then he stopped. A corpse and a ton of money?

***

Crawled up behind a valve, Jesse wept, keeping his eyes shut as tightly as his chest of cards. Oh goodness, oh god, oh no…

All sounds stopped. He should be quiet too. Jesse took a deep breath and put a hand over his mouth. He stayed like that for a few minutes, with each passing, the terrifying silence turning into a signal that everything was okay. He couldn’t hide here forever. There had to be a way out.

Jesse opened his eyes then peeked out. No one was there. He’d broken into enough old people’s homes to know if someone waited in the dark. Above in the neighborhood, the evening was on the brink of night -- the moon shone on him.

He stood up. Blood flowed in the stream of dirty water. Fear kicked Jesse in the knees. The beast. Killed. Tenner!!! He fell on his ass and crawled backward, but his back hit the end of the sewer. The echo of a steady beat arose from the darkness.

“Bring the money,” a deep voice spoke, “to Tenner’s doorstep or this’ll happen to you too!”

Oh god! Noooo! Jesse raised his head from his hands and hopped to his feet. “Okay, okay, I’ll do it. Just let me live!” It was all a bit off, reminding him of the setup of a prank. But the blood was real. And he was nearing pant-shitting-from-fear season.

He needed to get to the other side of the stream. He needed to get out, but… but… a finger flowed in the blood. And skull fragments. And a leg. If he fell in, he’d become another addition to the soup of a headshot’s aftermath.

Jesse backed off, took a deep, deep breath and ran forward. His feet slipped on a wet spot. His heart dropped. Then his balance returned and he jumped over.

“Do it quickly.” The beating in the darkness stopped as blood swallowed the last centimeter of the stream. “The hours you have left to live are the hours left to midnight.”

***

Half a dozen red laser beams released a low hum. One of their emitters sizzled, leaving a small opening through the gate. Tenner averted his gaze from the brightness. Still, he could see the lasers’ faded remnants on the white walls of the plain corridor.

A stretch of the sewer’s complete darkness had led Tenner into a spacious chamber, where a massive tank worked, cleaning the sewage and sending it out to pipes going along the walls. Every centimeter of that room rattled, but there had been no sounds: it all had seemed too uncanny. Luckily, a flight of stairs led out of there, to a featureless hallway.

Going up those stairs, Tenner had brushed his bloody fingers on the pipes and railings, leaving ten crimson lines. All that had remained of the hobo. Yes, it was his idea. Jesse would do the right thing.

A laser-gate. Tenner scratched the back of his head. Another weird turn for the day. Tenner--and his kid-chasing, card-switching dexterity--could slip through, but not touching a beam would take some tricky maneuvering.

Huh.

“Inspect,” he ordered the device on his face. It was too early to tell if this CHEK registered any commands, but it was certain that that particular one did fuck all. “Character?”

The glowing screen with all his stats came over his view as his inner voice dictated all of the info on it. Interesting. I’m getting closer. “Help,” he said then, realizing his words’ vagueness, added, “with CHEK?”

[The CHEK is an all-powerful device created to further humanity...]

Thank you for these highly useful words, Tenner scoffed. I will take them to heart.

This “all-powerful” device was getting a little ahead of itself -- so far, it could only display one screen and cause a whole lot of pain for no reason. Tenner would try countless commands to see if the CHEK was anything more than a novelty gadget. But first, he had to get past this gate.

“Do something to these red lasers!” he said, slamming his foot on the ground.

The sparks on the floor became more frequent and the lasers -- a little transparent. The heat on Tenner’s forehead seemed to cool. Had that random command neutralized the beams…?

Tenner put his finger into a laser. If it had, he’d know, if not -- he was quick enough to take his finger out before any damage--

[Warning! Damage: -2 to health]

“Aa-- ARGH-- EURGH!” He grabbed his hand. “AAAAAAAH!”

Out of the beam of death, the finger stopped burning in an instant. If that was 2 damage, Tenner was the worst Stardestructor player the game had been disgraced with. How could something deal such pain, but be so insignificant? Well, he needed more self-torture to have something to compare it with. This gate of pure pain wouldn’t stop the chosen one: he aimed the plank at the laser emitters and smacked. The beams flickered into nothing. With a quick runway, he jumped. And they returned.

If Tenner wasn’t in motion, the lasers would’ve cracked through his skin, turning him into a head on a stick. In fact, for a moment, he thought that had happened. Then he fell flat on the other side.

Damage messages flooded his vision and one stated his health as [Above Moderate!]

A few seconds later, they disappeared, along with the pain reminiscent of getting thrown into the barrier.

Never again. That’s enough science for a lifetime. At least I learned it says what state I am in.

The new part of the corridor, similar to the chamber before, had a complex system of colorful pipes on its white walls. Some of those pipes remained still and quiet whilst others pulsated.

“Realm 349’s under-mechanisms ahead, sewage system behind,” Tenner read a paper sign nailed to a yellow sign hanging off a still pipe.

Realm 349.

Not the neighborhood. Not a prison. Realm. And there were at least 349 similar ones in the world.

I’ve gotten out, but apparently, that was the easy part. If there are 349 Realms, there have got to be at least 349 kids like me. I’d crush the face of a thousand more hobos to get out of here and help those kids.

Something moved on Tenner’s right. It kept the same pace as him and stayed right out of his field of view. His brow rose. Heaving, a rat ran down the pipes along the wall and landed in front of Tenner. The little creature almost kicked the bucket out of exhaustion from trying to keep up with a behemoth.

That giant crouched in front of the rodent and uttered. “You’re cute.” Then looked at the wall it came from. “And you followed me through all that? I think we could be friends, couldn’t we?”

The rat’s eyes shined from the fluorescent lights above. It got off its haunches and scuttled in a circle. Perhaps it responded to the question that way?

“Inspect rat?”

[Name: Ghastly Death-Rodent]

[Non-C creature]

The CHEK did something! Just enough info to scrape by. Though Tenner had a problem -- what did that info mean, exactly? “Non-C creature”... maybe this rat doesn’t wear a CHEK. Death-rodent… it wants me dead? What does “ghastly” have to do with anything?

“I don’t have time: if you wanna be my friend, you can keep following. If not, screw off.” Tenner waved and returned to walking.

The rat stared for a moment longer then hid under a pipe.

I don’t think it wants me dead -- it looks terrified.

[Warning! Damage: -1 to health]

A sting pierced Tenner’s foot. He jumped and his back hit the pipe-covered wall. Ignoring the valve rammed against his back, he grabbed his foot: the rat hung off Tenner’s heel by its teeth, dripping with blood.

Sour-faced, Tenner grabbed the rat. He had an urge to smash it into a wall but instead tossed it away. If it wasn’t playing nice, he didn’t want to see it.

The rodent caught up and bit into the roof of his foot. The rat’s speed and efficiency amazed Tenner. Killing it would be a crime against evolution! So, he kicked it. But the rat showed its teeth and charged for the third time.

Well, it’s obviously suicidal. Tenner stomped. “I sentence this rodent to death by foot.”

The rat squealed. Tenner dragged his foot across the floor to wipe the blood off and raised his leg. The rat's body disappeared. Snap and it wasn’t there. Then, a few meters behind the streak of blood, the rodent returned, covered in red, but alive.

Tenner’s jaw dropped. Yes. His eyes would never lie to him. This was the meaning of “ghastly”.

The rat scuttled towards Tenner and Tenner scuttled away from it. Technically, he’d completed the death sentence. And, well, reasonable people knew not to mess with ghosts. The fluorescent lights above blurred. Every dozen meters, doors interspersed the colorful pipes on the walls. The bites on his foot burned. Never thought that so much of the area under the city is here just to maintain my prison. A pipe on the wall burst, spewing black clouds and a group of rodents. Confused, the creatures scuttled in circles before locking onto Tenner. Wide-eyed, he stopped in his tracks. More emerged, doubling their ranks. The respawned rodent passed Tenner and joined its brethren.

My path to freedom is a little less straight than first envisioned. A few meters back was a black door, lined with edges of silver. In the handle’s place, a hologram levitated.

Tenner’s hand went through it. “Open. Open door. Access!”

[Warning! Clearance denied: requirements not met]

Clearance denied?! He rammed into it with his shoulder. As metal held him back, mom’s thoughts came to him. I’ve never seen such disrespect in my life.

The rats reached his feet. Being the chosen one, he decided to take the next door out instead of wasting his time slaughtering hordes of rat ghosts

At the next door, Tenner’s hand went through the hologram and his mouth muttered the beginnings of a command.

[Door opening]

This door was nicer.

Relieved, Tenner slammed it shut with his back and turned to the quiet dark room he’d just entered. That one fucking rat. A frown rose on his face. If it hadn’t bit me, I wouldn’t have smacked up against that valve and unleashed a horde. That one fucking rat just wasted so much of my time -- dad would go back out there just to kill it.

But am I him? I should see what’s going on in here.

“CHEK, turn the lights on!” he said. From the CHEK on his eyebrow, a small light shone.

Huh… it worked. Tenner walked past endless rows of metal crates. All of them had massive screws sticking out. Some were wrapped in chains. This place--a storage room of sorts--had none of the crispness and cleanliness of the corridor. Rusty vents let in stale air from the walls that didn’t even bother to hide strands of wires going along them. Squeals and scratches sounded behind the door. No matter how many rodents came after Realm 349’s chosen one, it’d hold. It was a friendly door, after all. Tenner stopped by a half-open crate and peeped in. Before ripping it apart, his gaze caught a trampled envelope laying on the ground. He picked it up, blew the dust off and opened it.

There was a stack of pictures inside. Most were blurry or torn, but a few gems laid amid dozens of lost moments. There was a clear picture of a kid in front of a christmas tree, shredding away at a guitar.

“Remember Great-Gramps? I thought we should celebrate the funeral’s anniversary, but I don’t know where everyone went and... this is the only pic of him I have. Send a different one back… please,” the text on the back of the picture read. Tenner grinned and tucked the polaroid into the safest place he could -- his shoe. It wouldn’t fall out, only maybe crumple, along with the cards. He dug deeper into the envelope and discovered the response, or what was supposed to be it.

The same kid stood atop a small stage in front of a party, blasting out some tunes. “Ha ha, I found a similar one. A hundred years you haven’t been able to see a sight like this.”

Tenner put that picture for safekeeping as well. His gaze shifted back to the crate. He ripped the metal apart. Inside, an engine, surrounded by a wall of complex holograms, chugged. A light started blinking and scanned Tenner.

A small screen popped up in his view.

[Welcome to Comandotron-3600!]

[Do you want to update before accessing the system?]

“No.” That seems like it’ll take forever.

[Error: you cannot access Comandotron-3600 in an outdated version.]

“OK, computer, then update.”

[Error: Comandotron-3600 is disconnected and cannot update.]

[Comandotron-3600 starting in demo mode… started!]

[Connect]

[Assign access]

[Info]

“Info.” I’d like to understand what this thing even is.

[Comandotron-3600 is a Realm management mini-computer -- it can do simple tasks like assigning clearance levels, opening doors, showing damage and etc., but it requires being connected to the Realm system]

Tenner ordered the Comandotron to assign access. He’d have it do what it could without being connected. A long list of vague objects and doors appeared. He had no clue what clearance levels at any of them would do and searched for recognizable names. At the end, he found a string of exits and gave himself clearance to them. From the Comandotron, to Tenner’s CHEK, a beam of light appeared.

[Please wait 5 minutes: assigned clearance to 1/15 entries]

Tenner crossed his arms and sighed. In total, he waited for twelve seconds.

[Error: please return to Comandotron]

In the middle of a step, he froze and turned back. He sat beside the device, back to a metal crate. He didn’t like waiting when the outside was so close.

“Menu, character… Might as well go through a whole bunch of commands. Try to figure more of his CHEK out.”

Menus and screens appeared, but most of their buttons were [????].

Guess it doesn’t want me to see that yet, Tenner thought. It probably unlocks when I have a higher level or something -- can’t wait to see what it is.

He wandered to the bottom of the menu. There was one intriguing button he could press -- [Settings]. Here, everything except for the [Notifications] option was blanked out. Now this I’m gonna use. As he finished changing the CHEK’s notifications to his liking, the beam between him and the Comandotron disappeared.

[Success! Assigned clearance to 15/15 entries!]

On the walls at the end of the room, signs full of unreadable symbols hung. Tenner hopelessly strained his vision then inspected.

[Sign: Realm 349’s operating machines’ backup warehouse]

[Sign: Ventilation]

[Sign: Operating machines’ pathway]

He would’ve been overfilled with joy and this would’ve been his way if not for the fact all the signs were above crates -- some idiot had blocked the exit.

Tenner dragged a crate. The heavy thing slid a few centimeters, rubbing off the floor’s paint. He shook his head. There were two problems. First, it’d need to slide a whole lot more than a few centimeters to unblock the way out. Five strong men should do it. That was problem number two -- Tenner didn’t have five strong men.

He gave up on his box pusher career and re-examined the dozen tons of metal keeping him from the outside world.

On one of the crates, a pair of screws seemed to be loose.

Tenner crouched, gave one a strong tug and the top of the box opened. He ripped the metal shell apart, revealing a dead Comandotron and a rodent munching on its parts.

The rat stopped its feast and hid behind the machine.

Tenner also backed off, uttering, “Inspect.”

[Name: Ghastly Death-Rodent]

[Non-C creature]

After staring for a moment with its cute eyes, the rodent went straight for his foot. Tenner dodged the vicious attack. Why would this rodent put itself under my foot? He stomped until it died a few times. Wiping the blood from his sole, he turned his attention to the Comandotron, forming plans in his head.

Its parts could be used for getting the other crates out of the way or making a weapon to kill the death-rodents. Or the whole thing could be dismantled and moved out of the way. He’d never been good with machinery. He could do tricks for days, but he’d destroy his finger if given a hammer.

The rat respawned and tried gnawing at his foot.

Growling, Tenner stomped. It squealed, faded away and reappeared, thirty centimeters to his right. Tenner stomped again… and again, and again, and again. Blood covered more and more of the creature every reincarnation, the orange streaks on its head becoming one with the color of its fur. An uncleanable shade of red stained Tenner’s sneakers.

The rodent evaporated for the last time.

Tenner shook his head as an unbearable feeling rose from his skin and into his hair, making it stand. It was weird. It was frustrating. Realm 349 had kept him away from not only a beautiful but a curious world. Somehow, he’d never learned about the second part. He’d get used to it. If he hit rock bottom someday, he might return and teach the truth. Not that the neighborhood had a history of listening to it.

With a lot of strength, he managed to push the dead Comandotron out of the way. Behind the computer stood a corridor locked by a gate. Off the bars hung a piece of paper stapled onto a yellow sign.

“Holodoor broke so we put this in as a temp replacement. Don’t worry. The master key is in the usual spot."